Star Crossed
by SweetThing2
Summary: They were sure of one thing: each other. What they didn't know was how that would tear them apart. AU Future Fic.
1. Prolouge: Perfect

                                         _Star-Crossed_

**Author**: SweetThing

**Chapter**: Prolouge "Perfect"

**Disclaimer**: Yeah, that's right, I own everything. Everything! It's all mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a flying pig and a frozen over underworld outside that I have to attend to.  

**Author's Note**: Alright, first off, no, I am in no way abandoning _Narcissus._ That's my first priority story-wise. But I've had this idea floating around for a while now, and inspiration struck. I would love to know what you guys think. This is a bit confusing at first, but the prolouge is kind of meant to be. I'll tell you this: this story will involve four main characters: Jess, Brad, Paris, and Rory.

**Dedications**: Elise, my awesome beta who listened to me ramble on about this for at least a half hour the other day. 

They were perfect, she said. 

That was shortly after their first date.

We're meant to be, he said.

That was upon the occasion of their three-month anniversary.

It's destiny, she said. Well, that's what she would've said if she used trite and sugar-coated phrases that ultimately meant nothing, what with the world we live in today.

It was fate. It had to be fate, he decided. They had been dating for almost a year, and he was happy. He was content. He felt as if that missing piece, that link he needed to feel complete, was finally making its presence known. 

He felt like he could settle. No, take that back. He actually wanted to settle for the first time in his life. With her. She grounded him, brought him back from wherever he had strayed. Gently. He, in turn, responded to the soft parts of her with ease. That part of her that had expanded as she got older, at first only reserved for boyfriends and the few people she let into her life. 

They balanced each other out. He couldn't imagine being with anyone else. Yet, he couldn't say they were "perfect" together. Because that would be too good to be true, right? It was impossible, especially given the obstacle of all people being flawed and everything. But somehow, they…they just worked. Whenever he thought about them, a few words came to mind. Syncopation was one of them. They fit. They went well together. Nobody could quite explain it but the two of them.

But now he was afraid.

Because he was starting to forget the reasons.

Because it didn't feel the same when they kissed, when they lay down together to go to bed. When they just were.

And it was his entire fault. If only he hadn't done this. If only he would've kept his hormones in check. If only she hadn't wanted this temporary parting of the ways.

If only she hadn't looked at him like that. 

His mind was racing, swimming with "what if's" and various other pretenses, gut wrenching questions that involved why, how, when. The last thing he wanted to do was answer them. Because that would bring light to his greatest fear of all.

That they really were perfect. 

Free of flaws, pristine, unscratched, untarnished. A model for other couples. Always happy, never fighting.

And completely non-existent.

Yes, that was what had been keeping him up at night. Ever since he had had to be without her for so long, he had analyzed it down to the bone. He didn't know what else to do. She did things like that to him. Except this time, she hadn't done anything. 

He had done this to himself. 

*~-*


	2. Uncertainty

                                         _Star-Crossed_

**Author:** SweetThing                       

**Chapter:** 1 "Uncertainty"

**Disclaimer:** Let's not even go there, girlfriends. *Snaps like Dr. Evil* Mm—hmm! I own nada. 

**Author's Note:**  Alright, everyone, first, thanks for the reviews, and Silverlane, dear, I love you beyond words, hee. Next, I have a few things to add about this, my newest venture in writing. This is slightly AU, and in this case it means this: everything on the show happened, except for one minor detail. Right after "Swan Song", after Rory and Lorelai's talk, she and Jess did indeed sleep together, a few days later, in between that and "Face-Off". Now, this will change other events a bit, but it will be explained later on. Everything cool? Good. Now, just for fun, each chapter title is going to be an emotion, or adjective, you get the idea. Also, each chapter will be in a different person's point of view, repeating the following characters': Paris, Jess, Rory, Brad. This is in Jess's. Enjoy! 

**Dedications:** Elise, because without her, this fic would probably be nothing more than an idea that never got expanded on. She's also a wonderful beta. Also, Susie, for her encouragement and well, for just being her. 

"Jess? Are you in here?" Jess heard his girlfriend call as she entered her (soon to be their) apartment. 

"In here, Hon," he responded as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Painting was not an easy job to do by yourself. Thankfully, Josh from work was due to show up here any minute with reinforcements. 

He heard her enter the rather large living room and turned around to greet her. 

"Hey," he said, kissing her in greeting despite his dirty state.

"Hey," she replied, "And wow, you have not showered yet today, have you?"

"Why? Would you think less of me if I hadn't?" Jess teased.

"Well no, but while I wouldn't think less of you, I would think less of someone who didn't take personal hygiene as seriously as I do."

"Oh, really? You're a neat freak, then? Why this is news to me." Jess mocked innocence.

"Spare me," she said, rolling her eyes resignedly, "I only have about a half hour for lunch. Then I have to be back at the office, even though I despise calling it the office because I do not like to think of myself as just having a dead-end office job where—"

"Paris," he put his hands on her shoulders, "We both know that this is just a temporary thing until you can actually start practicing. With a license."

"Which isn't for another year! And this temporary thing is causing me so much stress, not to mention all the studying I do and—"

"Calm down, please. I don't need you having a heart attack before I even finish painting your apartment," he interrupted, "You know that once you graduate, you're going to be the best goddamn attorney in the state. You just need to wait for it. That's all." He finished, going to the sink to wash his hands. 

She sighed, relieved by his words. "That may be," she replied, "But what are we going to do about you?"

He smirked a little. "What about me?" he asked, "I get along just fine."

"Doing odd jobs and taking the occasional class at Hartford Community College doesn't exactly qualify as 'just fine', Jess," she responded.

Jess sighed. Why couldn't she ever let this alone? He did enough, by his standards anyway. He often wondered why it couldn't be enough for her.

"We've gone through this before," he said, turning off the faucet and facing her. "I appreciate that you want to help me, but I'm fine! I work, I make money, I eat, and I support myself. What's so horrible about that?"

"Nothing," Paris replied, "But we're going to be supporting ourselves soon. Together. I don't want to sound like a cliché, but I certainly don't want you resenting me if one day, I end up well…making more than you. I mean, I'm all for women-empowerment and all that political jargon, but---"

"You honestly think that's going to bother me?" Jess cut her off. "If I ever feel like I should be doing more, then I will. For now, I'm fine. I'm…happy, even. Alright?" He sighed again, ready to end the discussion, which was now bordering on an argument.

Paris smiled a little. "Alright," she agreed, moving closer to him.  

He kissed her forehead. "Alright," he said with finality, "I'm going to go change. And then, _I_ will take us out to lunch." He kissed her mouth before heading into the bedroom. 

She rolled her eyes again. "Alpha-Male!" 

"Rosie The Riveter!" he retorted from the hallway. He smiled a little before he reached the bedroom. 

When he entered what was soon to be their bedroom, everything was in chaos, because of the move that had been going on for the past few days. Clothes were in bags, boxes, basically anything that would hold them, and the furniture was askew, as Paris still hadn't figured out the way she wanted it arranged. It was one of the things he loved about her. Despite her occasional neurotic tendencies, she always had a positive spin to them, especially when it came to him.

After he had changed into clean clothes, Jess returned to the kitchen area, where Paris was sitting, much calmer now, a Dasani close by. 

"Ready?"

"I have been for about fifteen minutes," she said truthfully, half-kidding nonetheless. 

"Hey, come now, I didn't take that long," he protested as they started to walk out the front door. 

"Seems we've switched roles," she teased as they descended the staircase of the building. 

"Huh. Well. So much for feminism then," he quipped. Their light laughter echoed through the halls of the sky rise apartment building as they made their way to his car.

*

On the way home from dropping Paris back off at work, Jess found his mind wandering more than a few times as he took the familiar route back to Paris's apartment. In just a few days, he would be going back to this apartment every day. It would be home. 

_Home._ Never before when Jess had said that word had he truly known what it meant. Yes, living with Luke was a home. Luke had looked out for him, given him another chance, so to speak. It was the first time in his life that he had actually felt like the other person cared what happened to him. Not in that sappy, "C'mere, you big lug," kind of a way, but in that basic need sort of way. It was instinct. And it was what Jess had needed throughout his life, just like everyone else did.

Unfortunately, it was only from Luke that he had felt that. Yes, maybe Liz loved him, but from the time he was a child he had somehow sensed an obligation tainting it, something he had never been able to fully shake. If she felt more than that towards her son, she never gave any indication. As he got older, Liz looked more and more as though she was just going through the motions.  Jess never knew whether he just noticed it more as he grew up, or if it increased on her part as he entered puberty.

But with Paris, it was different. It wasn't the building so much as the feelings he had for her, that felt like something that had been missing his entire life. It gave off a kind of secure, comforting feeling that he couldn't quite define. Finally, his brain had settled upon the feeling's definition, and he had come to recognize it, though rather reluctantly (he was never one for cheesy declarations), as home. 

Of course, he didn't tell her that. Because he was…well, him. It wasn't the kind of thing, in his opinion, that you told your girlfriend. What was he supposed to say, anyhow? Anyway, he was pretty sure he did enough by showing her how he felt about her, in various ways.

He smirked. Now that was one thing he was fairly sure of. Not that he was cocky, of course. But, in all honesty, he knew that Paris shared his aforementioned feelings. And that, in part, was what gave him that warm, almost sheltered feeling when he was with her, among other things.

But, Jess reasoned, he didn't have all day to analyze his feelings for his girlfriend, he didn't even need to. He knew what was real, and what was honest. And that, in summation, was he and Paris.

Now, he had other things to worry about, like how he and Josh were going to get the living room done in two days, for when Rory, Lane, Madeline, Louise, and some of their other friends were coming over to throw them a sort of "housewarming" dinner…thing, since Paris had just moved in herself a few days ago. Jess wasn't big on that sort of thing, in fact neither was Paris, but they had insisted. Plus, Paris had reminded him, they could at least get a few gifts out of the whole deal.

He smiled a little. She was always the sensible one. He pulled into the building's parking lot, with a new determination to finish the living room.

*

That Friday, everything was in chaos. The living room was a mess, the clothes in their bedroom were only half-put away, Paris had a paper due the next day, and everyone was coming over that night. So, Jess immediately started cleaning when he arrived home from work, as Paris proofread her paper for the fourth time, making revisions along the way.

"Jess?" she called as he was folding clothes, running back and forth to the living room, which he was cleaning simultaneously, figuring he could save some time that way. Normally, he wouldn't put that much thought into cleaning, but he wasn't normally in this big of rush, either. 

"Yeah?"

"What's another word for analytical? I'd think of it, but my brain is so overloaded with information not to mention fried from hours of reading and typing and---"

"Try 'cogent', if that doesn't fit, try a dictionary, because I can barely think straight as it is." He responded in a hurry, rushing past the kitchen, where Paris had her laptop set up.

"Why?" she questioned curiously, "Frazzled?"

"Endust fumes," he said seriously. She laughed a little. She then paused for a moment before saying,

"Thanks, by the way," Paris said sincerely. This made him stop his scurrying from room to room for a moment. He walked the short distance to where she was stationed and leaned towards her. 

"Don't mention it," he smiled, kissing her. 

The kiss broke, and he pulled back just a little before he said,

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have my masculinity to lose,"

"Oh, don't let me keep you, by all means," she smiled before going back to her laptop. He returned her smile with his semi-usual smirk before heading down to the laundry room to get a load of whites.  

Once arriving downstairs, Jess finally remembered something he had been meaning to do for the past half hour…check his watch. With a flick of his wrist, the task had been completed:  2:35. 

Thank God, Jess sighed in relief as the time washed over time. Everyone wasn't coming over until around sevenish, so that gave him a least a few more good hours to finish the laundry, put it away, and then, finally, all of his stuff would be completely moved into Paris's new place. Their place. Jess shook the thought, with its syrupy-sweet undertones, off. Since when had he become such a sap? He shrugged internally as he threw the wet clothes into the dryer, linen sheet in tow. Perhaps it was all the rushing around getting to him. Plus, he had to admit; he was a bit excited that the prospect of living with Paris, which they had been discussing for months, was finally becoming a reality. It was a bit strange, really, but he felt it was a good kind of strange.  Or something.

And, on that note, Jess shut the dryer door with a resounding "bang" and headed back up the stairs to the main floor elevator. He still had at least two more loads to do, not to mention the various pieces of furniture Paris had promised to help him dust as soon as she finished her paper. The elevator closed behind him as he began the short journey down the hallway towards the apartment.

* 

Several hours later, the same door was opening as Louise Grant, along with Madeline Lynn, entered the apartment through the left-open door, slightly disheveled from the drive up to the city. They dropped their purses, one after the other, on the Bohemian-style coffee table (Paris's one splurge in the agonizing process of picking out and buying furniture).

"Paris, are you in here?" Louise called.

"Yes, you better be, after forcing us to drive over four hours in a car with faulty heat." Madeline muttered, mostly to herself.

"Funny, I always thought you were the nice one," Louise quipped, slightly surprised.

"You'd be the same way if the guy who said you were the love of his life dumped you for a trampy redhead," the brunette replied truthfully, collapsing on the sofa, depressed.

"Aww, you'll get through this," Louise consoled the woman whom she still considered to be her closest friend, "Men are like credit cards. Every once in a while, you mess up, and they max out.  When you least expect it, you will find your lifetime contract. No limits, and no hassle." She paused for a minute. "Nothing too bad anyway," Louise smiled, proud of her analogy. "You know, for a person who hates the 'Ditz With the Credit Card' cliché, I think I actually put my intense shopping habits to good use for once."

Madeline smiled in spite of her self. "Thanks," she said, "But, really where is--?"

Just then, Paris herself finally walked into the living room. 

"Sorry, I got into the shower late, I was getting dressed when you came in," she explained, "So, hi. I'm glad you two could come, we've all been so busy and everything and—"

"Don't mention it," Louise waved her off, "This is a good excuse as any for us all to catch up with everyone. I don't think I've seen practically anyone since—the last major holiday, at least," she pulled Paris in for a mostly one-sided hug. Madeline, temporarily roused from her melancholia, followed suite before saying,

"This is really great. I mean, your apartment's beautiful, not to mention your boyfriend---"

"Please spare me, Madeline, although, the kind words are—appreciated, I guess."

"You're welcome," she responded earnestly, "And…you look happy. I mean, how many of us can really say that these days? It's a cruel world," she finished knowingly, obviously thinking of her now ex-boyfriend. She sighed audibly.

"C'mon, I'll show you around a little, before everyone else gets here," Paris said, changing the subject. Louise mouthed a grateful "thank you" to her before agreeing, 

"Oh, great! It'll be at least a few minutes; I've been dying to see it. Come on, Maddy." She finished pointedly. They proceeded to follow Paris into the small kitchen area, where she started their "tour".

Meanwhile, Jess, who had been getting dressed, had been overhearing most of the conversation. He wasn't sure why exactly he was so hesitant to see Paris's old friends from high school, but he was.  It wasn't like he had never seen them before, after all. He had met them several times, and it was no secret that while Paris seemed irked by them half the time, she was very close to them. Jess had always felt a little uncomfortable around them, because he didn't really understand them, or Paris's friendship with them. Plus, Louise was one of those girls who always seemed like she was checking you out, even when he knew full well she wasn't.

But be that as it may, Jess still had to go out there. 

He braced himself, checked his hair once (force of habit) and went to the door. 

As he opened it, the tour had seemingly finished, and Paris, Louise and Madeline were now sitting on the couch, chatting away, the topic, Jess gathered, not being meant for man's ears as he heard Louise say,

"So I told him, 'There's no way I'm doing that. I hate kids as it is!' That's about when it ended," Louise sighed, "So now I'm just…looking, I suppose. I hate that. It's weird, for the first time in a long time, I really just want to settle down with someone for a while, and—oh, Jess!" she noticed him suddenly. He sheepishly revealed himself to them with a wave,

"Hey, uh…everyone." 

"Jess!" Madeline and Louise exclaimed, walking briskly over to where he was standing, "How are you?" 

"Pretty good, thanks," was Jess's response. "You know, getting along and everything."

"Good to hear," said Louise.

"Yeah, very good," Madeline agreed, nodding.

A pause fell over the room momentarily, and there was a significant silence, a lull in the animated conversation, as everyone stood around, sheepishly trying to come up with a new topic of conversation. The fact that none of them had seen each other in months was made glaringly 

obvious. Jess suddenly became very fascinated with the freshly painted walls as he waited for someone to rescue the ailing exchange.

Finally, Louise obliged.

"So, are you two excited about all of this? You know, the whole living together thing? It's a big step," she said importantly, relieved to have jump-started the conversation. 

They looked slightly uncomfortable as they answered, as Jess knew this had been coming and hated being put on the spot in that manner. He shifted awkwardly. 

"Well, yeah."

"Of course, it's a big step, what with all you hear about it not working out and everything, we could end up as a statistic, but I think we're ready for it…um, right, Jess?"

"Right," he smiled in spite of himself, "Now I can sit on my ass all day like those stay-at-home husbands Oprah talks so much about."  And then, at last, the awkward spell was broken. Louise and Madeline laughed as Paris rolled her eyes, then turned to them and said,

"Somehow I doubt that that's what you'll be doing, dear." 

"Oh, listen to you," Madeline replied as the chuckling died down, "You sound like you're married or something."

Jess quickly took advantage of this opportunity.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Madeline," he winked at Paris slightly, which she responded to by giving him a brief questioning look. 

"Hey, hey, relax, there, I'm just saying, we're still so young, who knows what could happen in the future. Plus, you know me…"

"Yes, yes I know, wild, free like the wind, can't be tied down, insert other clichéd macho catchphrase here," Paris finished for him as she moved to the kitchen to get wine glasses for them, "We both know that's just an act you use to make me nervous, insecure about our relationship, causing me to need reassurance from you, which means you get more sex or whatever it is you want." She turned to her two friends and pretended to be discreet as she added, "But it's usually that." 

They giggled. "I don't know, Jess, sounds like you're pretty whipped for the untamable beast you claim to be," Louise said, a hint of a smirk gracing her features.

Jess was about to respond when he heard someone knocking on the unlocked door. He decided quickly to make answering the door his top priority for the moment.

"I should get that," he mumbled rapidly, and went towards the door. Upon opening it, he was extremely relieved to see who was behind it.

"Rygalski!"

"Mariano, always a pleasure," the ever-affable Dave Rygalski replied as he slapped his good friend on the arm.

"How long has it been since…"? Jess trailed off as Dave picked up on what he was saying.

"I don't know, but if we had a secret handshake or something I'd be doing it right now!" he joked, grinning.

His friend chuckled. Jess had always been glad they had become friends when they did, and was still a bit amazed that they managed to stay in touch, not to mention pretty close, after a considerable amount of time had passed since they met. 

"So, come in, man, don't waste precious 'reunion' time," he said laughing, as he led Dave into the apartment.

"Oh, I would never," he replied with mock caution.

"I always knew you were a stand-up guy," Jess responded as they became visible to the women, "Hey! Paris, look who showed up on our newly adorned doorstep!"

Paris sounded slightly amused when she exclaimed,

"So I hear. Dave, nice to see you again." She went over to him, Madeline and Louise following behind her, as in earlier years. 

"Likewise, Paris. The apartment's, wow, I mean it's gorgeous, really."

"Thanks. But really, you should see the rest of it. Jess, do you want to—"

"Sure, yeah. C'mon, Dave, I'll give you the tour." Jess motioned to follow him. 

"Ladies," Dave gave Louise and Madeline a slight bow as he went to catch up with his friend.

"Hey Dave," Madeline replied good-naturedly, "Good to see you again."

"Extremely," Louise followed suit, suddenly looking at Dave as though she was seeing him for the first time. Many men were familiar with this expression, for obvious reasons, Jess included. He felt for his friend. 

"Yeah, well, same…here," Dave, upon noticing the suggestive nature of the blonde's countenance, had suddenly become more than a tad uncomfortable. His friendly smile rapidly transformed into one of a forced nature.

"So… hey, Dave, how about that tour, huh?" Jess interrupted, hoping this would free him of the near trap Louise had him in.

"Oh. Oh! Yeah, the tour, of the apartment. 'Cause, you know it's…" Dave trailed off before finding the word, "uh, new." He laughed nervously before quickly following Jess out of the room. 

When they were out of sight of the girls, Dave let out a breath of relief. 

"Well, that was…interesting," Jess remarked, observing his state.

"Ugh, tell me about it," Dave replied tiredly, "I mean, I don't get it. I've known Louise for years and she's never looked at me twice, much less hit on me. After this whole thing with Lane, the last thing I want or need, for that matter, is another prospect even, of a relationship."

"I don't blame you," his companion responded, "But you know Louise. I heard them all talking earlier, and it seems she's ready to 'settle down'. Wants a commitment man, apparently. Unfortunately, you're the victim of her latest phase."

Understanding was evident on Dave's face as he said, 

"Ah. Oh, okay. Because I was wondering why…"

"Exactly. There's your answer, Sherlock." 

"Okay. Wow. Well, that's a relief. I guess I do kind of have 'in it for the long haul' stamped on my forehead, huh?"

"Well, you were only with Lane for what, three years?" Jess quipped teasingly.

Dave cringed slightly. "Four, actually. God, sometimes, I still can't believe it's over, you know?" 

Jess nodded. "It must be weird. Which is why, I'm prone to believe Louise somehow picked up on an 'on-the-rebound' signal from you, making you all the more desirable to her." 

He shuddered. "I never thought I'd hear the words 'desirable' and 'Louise' in the same sentence when referencing me." 

"It's a surprise to all of us, I'm sure," Jess replied, "C'mon, I'll show you the bedroom."

And with that, they finally proceeded with the tour. Jess showed him the spacious bathroom, bedroom, and the dining part of the kitchen, and was just finishing up when they heard more knocking. Paris, still chatting, went to answer it.

"Rory!"

Jess turned to see another close friend, none other than Rory Gilmore. 

"Paris, hi!" the pretty brunette exclaimed as she hugged her friend of almost seven years, "How are you guys?"

"Good. Great, even, how are you?"

"Oh, you know. Getting by. Pretty good." She let Paris lead her past the doorway before saying,

"Wow, you guys, this apartment is beautiful! I'm so glad I talked you into it," she laughed a little at this.

"I really can't thank you enough for that. I swear, I almost had a nervous breakdown that day, or a panic attack, I'm not sure which it was." 

Rory smiled. "You're welcome, don't worry about it. I'm sure pretty much everyone goes through that anyway." She turned, and suddenly saw Jess, who had been in the kitchen, about to greet her.

"Jess! Get over here!" she went over to hug her friend. Jess obliged, happy to see her. Despite their less-than amicable break up so many years ago, they had managed, much later, to form a friendship again. When she had found out that he was dating Paris, she was surprised, naturally, but genuinely happy for both of them. 

"Hiding from me, were you, there?" she asked as he returned her hug.

"Well, the spotlight's not exactly my friend. I didn't want to intrude on Paris and yours' moment. I remain in the shadows," he finished dramatically. 

Rory rolled her eyes. "How noble of you. So, how are you two?"

"Good," they answered in unison, surprising themselves a little. Jess laughed along with his girlfriend, a bit uneasily. It was almost as if they had lived together already. For an extended period of time. He shrugged it off. They had been around each other so long; this was bound to happen sooner or later. 

Their friend chuckled. "I'm glad. I'm so happy for you guys. I mean, this is one of those cliché relationship steps you always hear about, and you seem to be embracing it, taking it on full-force," she smiled, but it faltered a moment later when she added, "Oh my God, I sound more like Lorelai every day." 

This brought on laughter from everyone, and they continued to catch up, Dave regaling them with stories from the road, as his band was slowly getting noticed, finally starting to branch out from the club-circuit. Paris was just about to give Rory the grand tour when the sound of knocking was heard, a very familiar sound by now, from the doorway. Jess half-jogged to the door, eager to get back to the 'festivities', so to speak.

As he opened the door, he had a good idea of who it might be, standing on the other side. 

He was right.

"Lane!"

"Jess! Oh my God, hi!"

"Hey," he laughed a little as Lane pulled him into a hug, something she did every time they saw each other, choosing to ignore the fact that although they got along extremely well, they had never exactly been the closest of friends, bonding over select topics like music and pop-culture in general. Still, Jess didn't blame her, as they rarely saw each other, so they actually felt a bit closer, he reasoned, than they really were. 

"So how are you guys? No trouble in paradise, I hope?" The dark-haired young woman joked, a smile gracing her features, one that Jess hadn't seen in a very long time. As he led her into the apartment, he replied,

"Nope, everything's pretty good. I'm all moved in, and…you know…" he trailed off, not sure of what else he could say at that moment. 

Lane interrupted knowingly. "I get your point,"

He smiled, glad to be understood. "So, how have you been? Doing okay?"

Lane looked slightly annoyed, but seemed to know why Jess was concerned. 

"Jess, I'm fine, really. That's all…in the past now. It's Keith Richards, it's my Macarena phase, it's just…over, you know? Something no one touches anymore, or thinks about even."

After Dave and Lane's slightly messy break-up, nobody wanted to press the subject, but they still worried, from time to time, that the two had been each other's "it"—as in, the person with whom you say, "This is _it. _The real thing," and all of that crappy schmaltz Jess wouldn't touch, much less say, with a ten-foot pole. In that case, what were they going to do, if they weren't going to be with the one person that they were supposed to spend the rest of their life with? One could never tell. This made them worried, in turn, that the two would never truly be happy. But who really knew, right? At least, that was Jess's take on the whole situation.  In his opinion, it was very possible that they could both be very happy, even, perhaps, happier, with someone else. Maybe their parting of the ways had been fate's way of telling them that. He shrugged internally. Stuff like this was anyone's guess.

"Alright, alright, sorry," He replied, respecting Lane's wishes. "So, what have you been up to lately? Haven't heard from you in a while."

Lane's smile widened. "That's what I was just going to tell you! Well, everyone. Actually, just the girls, but you get my point. I've…I've met someone!" she practically shrieked, but amazingly enough, kept her voice down to a low level, so that nobody else in the room could hear.  

An eyebrow was raised. "Really?" Jess responded, a bit surprised. He had just been mulling this over. Talk about coincidence. 

But his starry-eyed friend was already gushing up a storm,

"Yes, and he's just…God, I don't even know what the right word is for it but I'll go with amazing! It's just…wow." She sighed, the girly kind of sigh that said one thing: Lane was most definitely infatuated with whomever this guy was, to say the least. Something that would not be well received by a certain person.

"Well, hey, you know…good for you. That's, it you seem happy so, that's good." He tried to muster up some enthusiasm, but was pretty sure he failed. 

She looked at him strangely. "Thanks, I guess. So where is everyone, anyway?"

He pointed. "Kitchen. Where you'll also find food and alcohol a-plenty." 

She laughed. "Thanks," Lane proceeded to put down her bag and join the group in the next room (well, not exactly a room, but more or less). 

As Jess followed her, he noticed Dave laughing at something Rory was saying, too absorbed in the conversation to notice the new guest.

…Until Paris announced it to the whole world. "Lane!" she said, rather abruptly, as she walked back into the kitchen, armed with a new bottle of wine. "You're here, great!"

"Hey, Paris," the other woman smiled easily. At that point, everyone else was roused from their ongoing conversations, and rose to greet her.  

"Lane, how are you?" came the almost identical replies of Madeline and Louise as they politely hugged her, though they didn't know her well. 

And of course, Rory was rushing over to her closest friend before she even sat down. 

"Lane! Oh my God, you came!"

"Rory!"

The two hugged, and even Jess could sense that the bond there was unbreakable. They were stuck with each other for life. 

"Ooh, c'mon, sit with us. We're all telling one another of our very exciting and varied career ambitions," Rory joked.

Lane mocked a sigh. "We are so old."

"Ancient," her friend agreed mock-seriously.  They both burst out into a laughing fit. 

Dave, meanwhile, hadn't taken his eyes off Lane since he had noticed her presence. As she sat down, eye contact between the two was unavoidable. Jess cringed. 

Their eyes met. "Dave," Lane acknowledged curtly, but to her credit, politely as well. 

"How you doing, Lane?" He tried to be non-chalant. 

"Good, you?" 

"Pretty good. Alright," he corrected.

Lane looked a bit guilty as she said, 

"That's good. The band's going okay and… everything?" 

"Yeah, we're finally out of the club-circuit. Opening for Ok Go this summer," he offered. 

"Wow, that's…that's really great, Dave." Her smile was genuine.   
  


"Thanks," he looked more at ease as he continued, "Yeah, I was just telling these guys here about the tour and everything, how it's been going."

"Oh, really? Well then, don't let me stop you," she joked, and the awkwardness was gone at last. 

He grinned slightly, and turned back to the others, who were all silently letting out their breath. Jess shared in the relief as he glanced at Dave, who had already begun to continue. "Alright, so last week, we're on the bus, when…" 

*

"…Wait, wait," Madeline interrupted, "You're telling me he had no idea?"

The get together was going full-swing some time later, as Dave finished his umpteenth story, being preceded by Rory's thrilling tale of her and her mother's latest venture in wedding planning, and staying away from her grandmother, all at the same time. After many years, Lorelai was finally settling down with Luke.  

"You heard right. I mean, we didn't even know! The freaking ad for the um, let's just say, lady_,_ said '_Real _Women!' We were----"

"You were naïve," Jess broke in, taking a swig of Heineken, "I mean, come on, wasn't it kind of obvious once she, err, he, got to the bus?"

"Well, yeah, obviously. But we decided to bring him in, just for laughs, right? So we go in there and tell Billie Jean to sing "Happy Birthday", to him, but nothing else---we told him about the mix up already---just to freak him out."

"His name, I'm sorry 'name'—" Paris made the coveted air quotes--- "was Billie Jean?" Paris interjected, half snickering. 

"Oh yeah," he laughed, shaking his head. "He was quite the sight."  

"You are terrible!" giggled Louise, who was on her seventh glass of wine.  "So what happened after that, Dave?" her tone was overly inquisitive as she moved her hand to his thigh. 

Under normal circumstances, Dave would've been ruffled by this, and for him, significantly freaked out, but a few beers can do a lot to a guy. So he seemingly chose to ignore it, and continued his yarn.

"So we go back to his room, and this guy's just all dolled up, he even has the right lip tone to match his eye makeup or something, this is what he's telling us, and we knock on his door---" 

"Poor Brian!" Lane laughed, nursing her own drink. 

Her friend grinned.  "And we tell him we got a special surprise for his birthday, and he thought it was a stripper at first, because that's what we told him a few days before, just kind of joking around, and everything. So he comes out all smiles, and his face just, I can't even describe the expression, you guys it was just—"

"Total shock, right?" Jess was very close to losing it as he cut in.

"Exactly! He thought we were serious, that we didn't know anything! So then 'Billie' starts singing, just like this freaked out version of Marilyn Monroe, and he's moving closer to Brian and he's backing up, just terrified, like this guys going to swallow him whole or something, and he goes, 'I don't know what you guys are doing, but this is not Soho and I am not that guy!' and runs out the back door!" Dave cracked up then, almost spilling his drink, and by that time everyone was in hysterics. 

"So what did Billie do?" Rory asked eagerly through her laughter.

Dave turned to her. "He was laughing with us, cause he knew what was going on and everything, but he said it was the best job he'd had all day."

This induced more laughter from the group. As they settled down, Dave wrapped the tale up.

"So, so, basically, Brian refused to play any Kinks covers for the rest of that state. And when he does, his face gets all red and everything.  Oh man," Dave sighed.  "That was the most fun we'd had on that bus for days." 

As Jess wiped his eyes, he could see Madeline open her mouth to speak. 

"Does it ever get lonely for you guys out there? Like, talking to the same people, never really being fulfilled…I don't know, it seems like it would be. Is it?" Apparently, the alcohol had affected Madeline as well, and Louise was almost seething, as her companion had unintentionally stolen her next move.

Dave paused. 

"You know, I never really thought about it like that. I guess sometimes, yeah, it gets…tedious. Kind of…lonely, yeah. Wow." Poor Dave was suddenly overcome with introspectiveness, and the upbeat mood in the room was killed. Jess shot Madeline a look, causing her to mouth "What?" quite obviously, and Jess sighed. Maybe it was time to call it a night.  He cleared his throat.

"You know, I think we've all endangered out livers enough for tonight, so Dave, you want a ride home, man?" 

He looked up. "Nah, it's alright. I'm going to just take a cab home and... re-evaluate my life." He sniffed, and his slightly unsober state was revealed as he gathered up his jacket fumblingly.

"Bye, guys. It was good seeing all of you. Very…" he trailed off as Louise mouthed "Call me," when he suddenly made eye contact with her. He looked at his hand sheepishly. Rory and Lane tried to look serious, as they all felt bad for their friend's drunken realization, but couldn't help giggling, almost internally, at Louise's no-nonsense attempt at a conquest. 

"…Good. Well, hope we can do this again." He smiled half-heartedly as Jess led him to the door.

"Take it easy, Ryglaski, alright? Don't be too hard on yourself."

"Will do. See ya." A mutual pat on the back was carried out. Male tradition, so to speak. It had always been a natural part of Jess's and Dave's friendship, for some reason, even though Jess was anything but a physical kind of guy. Except when it came to fighting, that sort of thing.

"Bye."

Another half-hearted grin appeared on Dave's face. "Bye. Bye, Paris! Good to see you."

Paris looked up from the living room. "Oh! You, too, Dave. See you soon!" 

"Remember what I said, now," her boyfriend replied, mock-seriously.

"Yes, father." Dave chuckled. "Bye, man." 

"Bye." And with that, Dave was officially the first to leave, which not surprisingly led to chain reaction of early meetings and exhaustion, and apologies for leaving so abruptly. Lane said her goodbyes, then Louise and Madeline, and finally, Rory ended up staying the longest, as she had drank the most, causing a few eyebrows to be raised. But they all thought she'd just had a bad day, maybe at work, or fought with Lorelai. Jess sighed. He himself was wiped, and he was almost eager for his friend to leave, so he could finally lie down in his new bed.  He turned to Paris and Rory, who were laughing about something or other, but he heard goodbyes being uttered.

"Alright, well, you remember, tell me how that goes, alright?" Paris managed to get out despite her laughter. 

"Oh, I will, I will. It's going to be a magical evening, it really is." Rory bowed uncharacteristically and grabbed her purse. 

"Well, ladies—err, lady, and gentleman, I'm afraid I must be going now. Such a shame, I know. You two probably want to be alone---" She raised her eyebrows suggestively, causing the two other pairs of eyes to roll--- "After all, this is the new place. So, goodbye then." Her speech was altered by an unbelievably fake English accent, but she somehow got her point across, even being as indisposed as she was. She went to hug Paris.

"Bye, Rissy. Please call me soon, we'll go out to eat or something."

Her confidante looked at her in horror. "Rissy? God, how drunk are you?" Even so, a good laugh was had for a minute or two before she winked at Paris and moved onto Jess. 

"Oh, Jess. Jess, Jess, Jess, Jess, Jess. Wow, you have a funny name!" She giggled unexpectedly, her cheeks reddened. "Well, it's been fun. We all gotta do this again; you do know that, don't you? I don't see your ugly mug neeeearly enough." She accentuated the "nearly" with her coveted accent again.

Jess laughed. "Alright, princess, we'll make sure we do, okay? Please tell me you're taking a cab. Do you want a ride?"

Rory seemed to think about it for a moment. "Nah," She waved it off, "I'll take a cab. I can even do one of those late-night 'Taxi-Cab Confessions' you see on HBO or Saturday Night Live or something." She burst out laughing, and Paris quickly moved in front of Jess to help steady her friend. 

"Come on, _Lori,_ I'll walk you out."

Rory gasped as she allowed Paris to lop her arm under hers, holding her up a little. "Excuse me! No, no, no, no, no, you can't get all smart on me now, Paris, don't even think you can…" Paris looked at Jess.

"I'll be back in a minute."

 He nodded. "Be safe."

She looked at him, annoyed. "Jess, I'm only going out to the walkway, I'll be fine. I just need to make sure she gets home okay."

Jess rubbed his temples. "Oh, right, right. Sorry."

She rolled her eyes and started with Rory to the elevator. Jess waved at her a final time and shut the door. 

It had been quite the evening, it seemed.

*

When Paris returned, Jess was already in the process of getting into bed, opting to shower in the morning to ward off a hangover that would come anyway. He stripped off his clothes and put on boxers and an undershirt. It was getting cold out, meaning it was time to wear more than underwear to bed. Paris often teased him that soon, he'd be in nothing but a pair of tightie-whities all year round.

She entered their newly formed bedroom. _Speak of the devil, _he thought with a smirk. Paris smiled at him, a bit wanly, and sighed, dropping down on their bed.

He looked at her. "She get in the cab okay?" 

"Yeah, eventually. Her offering sexual favors instead of the fare didn't help, though. I swear, she is absolutely indespicable when she drinks."

"Not to mention temporarily insane," Jess replied with incredulity. "That accent was to die for. Literally."

Paris chuckled. "Don't I know it. You showering?"

"Nope. Tomorrow." 

"I knew it."

"Of course." She smiled genuinely at him, and then went to change.  Jess pulled down the bed sheets and comforter and settled into bed, taking out his worn copy of _Dawn_ to help him fall asleep. A few minutes later, Paris was back; emerging in a white tank top and loose, gray sweats. Even in that, she looked good, Jess noted, then practically rolled his eyes at himself. It was the truth, though. 

As she got into bed, he glanced up from his book at her, happy she was with him when he went to sleep. It was a new comfort he was not used to. When she was done adjusting the pillows and various blankets to her liking, she turned to him.

"Well, I think that turned out pretty well, what about you?"

"Yep. Definitely did."

"You had fun?"

"Yep. Of course." 

"Good."

"Yeah." There was a pause then, and they laughed.  

"You know, this is the first time we've ever---"

"I know," he paused, "I guess it's a milestone then. But I'm really tired, so I don't think—"

She cut him off with a slap on the arm. "Don't even. I'm not even all the way sober yet." 

He chuckled. "Relax, I was kidding." 

She joined him, then sighed again, leaning back into the headboard. 

"Well, good-night, Jess."

"Goodnight Paris." He reached over to turn off the light.  He moved closer to her then, to see if she at least wanted to lay on him for a while until they inevitably separated in their sleep, but was surprised to find her nowhere near him. He moved again, getting to where their bodies would have to touch. She was stiff beside him, her breathing not as normal as it should have been.  

Jess found her arm. "You okay?"

Her breathing seemed to normalize then. "Yeah, I'm great. Just tired. Plus—the wine—"

"Okay." 

"Night," she whispered, and finally took to leaning on him, her head on his shoulder. He shifted to fit her body against his. 

"Night." She was still a little stiff. But Jess was exhausted, not to mention half drunk. Besides, she seemed okay now.  

So he ignored it.

*~*


End file.
